Реферат: Progression Towards Light Essay Research Paper Progression

The chorus, who represent the subjects of the late Agamemnon, express their

gratitude for Orestes’ decision when they say, ?But when strength came back hope

lifted me again, and the sorrow was gone and the light was on me? (lines 415-

417). Orestes’ arrival and his resolution to make his mother pay for her crimes

illuminates the darkness which Clytaemestra has brought upon the royal house;

the chorus, in proclaiming that the light is on them, recognize that Orestes is

the man who will achieve this illumination. Electra also recognizes that

Orestes will bring good to an evil situation: ?O bright beloved presence, you

bring back four lives to me? (lines 238-239). Orestes’ presence brightens the

dark, gloomy state of mind of Electra just as it brightens the dark, gloomy

situation in the house of Atreus.

Following the murder of Clytaemestra and Aegisthus at the hands of

Orestes, light is finally restored to the conflict within the mortal house of

Atreus. Orestes has fulfilled the oracle imposed upon him by Apollo, and the

darkness, the evil of Clytaemestra, has been defeated. In reference to this

defeat, the chorus proclaims, ?Light is here to behold. The big hit that held

our house is taken away? (lines 961-962). The disorder and darkness that had

reigned in the house of Atreus exists no longer; Orestes has given his family

illumination. The evil darkness has been overcome by the good light.

Another way in which Aeschylus manifests the imagery of light and

darkness is through the conflict between the Olympic and Chthonic gods. The

Olympic gods are represented in the Oresteia by Apollo and Athene. Aeschylus

ties together the ideas of justice and reason, Athene’s domain, with the idea of

light, of which Apollo is god. By contrast, the black clad Chthonic gods, the

Furies, tie together the idea of darkness with the idea of bloody revenge, which

is their area of specialization. In the Eumenides, Pythia says of the Furies, ?

They are black and utterly repulsive, and they snore with breath that drives one

back? (lines 52-53). The contrast between the two different races of gods sets

up Aeschylus’ second progression from darkness to light in the Oresteia.